September 26, 2012 7:51 am

Officials try to sort out the final play of an NFL football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks as players and coaches swarm the field, Monday, Sept. 24, 2012, in Seattle. After a period of confusion, a Seahawks touchdown by wide receiver Golden Tate was allowed to stand for a 14-12 win. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

You really haven’t got enough of the Monday Night Fiasco, right? That’s what we thought, so here’s a few more offerings on Seattle Seahawks receiver Golden Tate’s catch in the final moments of Seattle’s 14-12 win over Green Bay that has caused a stir nationally.

I talked with retired NFL official Aaron Pointer, who lives in Tacoma, and he believes the replacement officials got the call wrong on the field. “I thought that eventually the ruling would be done correctly,” Pointer said. “And Green Bay would be given an interception, which it was. But that didn’t happen that way, and that’s too bad.

“Tate never had possession of the ball. He had a hand on the ball after the Green Bay player had possession. That’s not a simultaneous catch.”

Dave Boling of The News Tribune believes league commissioner Roger Goodell is the one who should take the most of the blame for the replacement officials continuing to oversee games, and that it’s time to get the regular refs back on the field.

Adam Lynn of The News Tribune takes a look at the overall affect the call has had nationally, generating hundreds of thousands of responses on twitter. The league stated it received over 70,000 voice mails, and better who had money on the Packers reportedly lost $150,000 million when Green Bay lost the game.

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About

Gregg Bell joined The News Tribune in July 2014. Bell had been the director of writing for the University of Washington's athletic department for four years. He was the senior national sports writer in Seattle for The Associated Press from 2005-10, covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season and beyond. He's also been The Sacramento Bee's beat writer on the Oakland Athletics and Raiders. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.

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It’s Wednesday. Time to start looking toward St. Louis and let others shake their fists at the sky. Everyone wants the regular refs back, but the world isn’t going to stop next week’s games from coming.

I feel terrible for Aaron Rodgers. After getting sacked 8 TIMES in the first half, taking the lead after a TERRIBLE PI call on Chancellor (the real worst call of the game for those that actually watched the game), he watched his team lose after a questionable call in the endzone (some may think this was blown a tad out of proportion; like those that have eyes and a brain, maybe?). I’d say he has the right to complain all he wants about how the officials lost the game for him. His team definitely had nothing to do with the loss.

Aaron, you just earned the Pack a special place in my heart, right next to the Steelers.

I’ll make the arguement that nobody is truelly making right here: It was 100% THE RIGHT CALL!!!!
This idea that one hand is not possession is thrown out like one handed catches are not catches. Last time I checked, If you are in route and one-handed snag a ball, once it is firmly in your grip possesion begins. Upon replay on a one handed catch, they will check to determine if a player got two feet in bounds with the ball secure, one hand or 2. Tate got a hand up and secured the ball at the same time as Jennings, regardless if it was one hand or 2, he then uses his other hand to re-adjust, using his grasp on the ball for leverage, proving he had a grip on it. I would like to hear that with 100% certainty, you could prove the ball was not in his grasp the entire way down. he then had 2 hands on the ball and a firm double handed grasp of the ball when jenings hit 2 feet down. MUTUAL POSSESSION was establishid directly when the players both grasped the ball at the same time above their heads, before it was secured to Jenning’s chest. at the end of the play it was TATE who walked away with the ball if you’ll notice. that’s because Jennings could not get both of Tate’s hands off the ball, as he had a mutual grasp of it. I would like to hear with 100% certainty that Tate’s left hand was not firmly grasping the ball, i.e. turning of the ball or a bobble, the entire way down, which is not possible. Then I’d like to see a clear rule that says possession with one hand in air is not possession, because everybody is acting as if that’s a written rule. If I get one arm on the qb while you get 2, and we simultainiously pull down the quarterback (a simultanious sack) that is a half sack. I’m not saying 1 hand is better than two in a chest on the bottom of a pile, just that the act of a catch starts when you have the ball secured in your grasp, whether that be in one hand or 2. If you look at it like that it’s most certainly mutual possession, and even has the evidence to flip the call if it were rule interception

To me it looks like an interception. But it just isn’t as obvious as everyone wants it to be. These are replacement refs, who went by letter of the law. So when he saw that Tate was touching the ball the ball, he automatically thought “simultaneous catch” which is awarded to the offense.
They way some people are portraying it. (Cough cough, ESPN and their Packer love affair) you would’ve thought that the defender caught the ball, landed, got tackled and then got the ball taken away.
B/c remember, even if he did intercept it, he wasn’t down, so Tate could have stripped it away.
#notthatobvious

and the offensive pas intereferance SHOULD have been called but NEVER WOULD be called. regardless of the officials. because with the ball in the air headed down and that much traffic, it is impossible to zero in on the PI, it was not a poorly blown PI call, it would have been missed every time by every official

Seriously, why are we hanging on every word of any random guy with a pulse giving their take on the call? Let the uproar be for bringing back the regular refs, not the league’s “Wednesday Letter of Apology” that Seahawk fans have gotten all to used to hearing about when it comes to officiating mistakes. Uproar didn’t overturn Testeverde’s phantom TD, the Raven’s 35 free seconds or SB XL and it’s not going to change things now.

I’d be upset if I were a Packers fan. But the Seahawks have nothing to apologize for. Tate tried his best to gain control of the ball and the fact that his back was on the ground and he had his hands on the ball probably influenced the official. We’ve seen far worse calls in NFL history and this one was even reviewed by non-replacement officials.

Many people were influenced by the announcers and analysts. If Gruden had said, “I can understand why that might be simultaneous possession,” we wouldn’t have seen such a controversy. If a few experts had actually analyzed the play properly (like Eric Davis of NFL Network did), they would have seen that Jennings had his feet off the ground when most people thought he had control of the ball.

I’m sure the Packers will be motivated by this game. I hope the Seahawks will too. Would be great if these two teams could meet in the playoffs again (in Seattle this time).

I’m sick of hearing about it. The Seahawks got the win and deserved the win. I hate that the last play is all this game has become about when there were many great things displayed on the field throughout & worse calls throughout.
Just wait…..the talking heads will throw it back come week 17 when Seattle makes the playoffs and one of their east coast media darling teams does not. They’ll say Seahawks got a W given to them in week 3.

tate pulled the ball down to his stomach with one hand, watch it in slow motion. one handed grasp pulls Jenings body completel to Tat’s stomach, then he westles it to his chest after mutual possession was established

RDPoulsbo, I guess I’m trying my best to legitimize the Seahawks win. I don’t like the prevailing opinion that they stole a victory. But like you say, it doesn’t matter. They still get a ‘W.’ And the best way to legitimize it is to play well the rest of the season and make the playoffs.

When the Seahawks made the playoffs at 7-9, they also faced national ridicule. But beating the Saints earned them some respect. Beating the Pats, Niners and others this season would do the same.

Yeah, if the Packers had converted that 2-point attempt, the Cardinals would be No. 1 in scoring defense. So we can thank Browner for that. On the other hand, if they had converted, the game would have gone into OT and perhaps the Seahawks would have won it in less controversial fashion.

I really don’t care about respect from the rest of the nation. When they went 7-9 and to the playoffs, I wore my Seahawks fandom with pride and just told others their teams should have won their own division than to decry Seattle’s division championship.

Seattle has a stack of games lost because of worse officiating messes than this one. It’s time the rest of the league get a taste all while they ignored past officiating problems in Southern Alaska. And yes, I consider this game legitimately won because that 3rd down phantom PI on Kam led to GB’s lead in the first place.

“Seriously, why are we hanging on every word of any random guy with a pulse giving their take on the call? Let the uproar be for bringing back the regular refs, not the league’s “Wednesday Letter of Apology” that Seahawk fans have gotten all to used to hearing about when it comes to officiating mistakes.”

“I really don’t care about respect from the rest of the nation. When they went 7-9 and to the playoffs, I wore my Seahawks fandom with pride and just told others their teams should have won their own division than to decry Seattle’s division championship.”

With all of the arousal the catch caused around the nation, especially with Packer fans, the catch should be called the Ejaculate Reception (riming with immaculate). That is the only name that does justice to the whole goofy thing.

Meeting GB in the playoffs in Seattle would be the game of the year. Can you imagine the super hype?

I’m not pleased with refs in general. Regular or replacement, they have to much control of the outcomes. That Kam PI was egregious. That play should be held out as an argument as why he should be considered all pro. Not only can the guy play the run expertly, but he is one of the best cover guys in the league. That call changed the outcome of the game, and was not reviewable.

It’s been reported that there is a tentative agreement between the refs and the league. If it is possible, they will resume duties beginning Sunday. All I have to say to that is watch out Thursday night. They will riot in Baltimore after the first blown call, or horribly bad missed call. The Art Modell Bowl is the end of this string of insanity but the people involved have to live through it first.

I agree with some of the other posts that there is a legit argument for dual possession. Even if MD Jennings would have levitated in mid-air, had both hands on the ball, giftwrapped it in a package, and put it under his jersey like a fake baby, until he comes down, he can not make a catch.

And there’s no question that Tate gets his hands in there before Jennings gets both feet down, therefore, dual possession and the correct call was made. Or at least there’s a real argument for this to be the case.

I liked the replacement refs. Of course I probably decided to like them before they started when the regular refs told all the college refs that if they went to work for the NFL, they would never hire them when the lockout was lifted. I have since had a new disgust for the NFL refs. They can all kiss my rear and I think they are greedy.

Under their line of thinking, Microsoft should have paid every one of their employees $1 Million a year because Microsoft had a lot of money. Never mind paying people what they are worth. If that was the way things run in this world, there would be no small businesses.

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